Protective buffer for children



Dec. 16, 1952 J. R. AMOROSO PROTECTIVE BUFFER FOR CHILDREN Filed April 10, 1950 INVENTOR. g JOHN RAMOR'OSO. BY

ATTOFNE K Patented Dec. 16, 1952 r UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1 Claim. 1

This invention relates to a body protector and in particular to a cushion or bumper to be worn by a baby in the region of the buttocks.

More specifically, the invention comprises an inexpensive, attractive and lightweight bumper to be worn over the buttocks by a child of tender years, thereby protecting it from injury due to falls.

It is a further object to provide a bumper of the above character which would appeal to the child itself and in fact create, on the part of the infant a positive desire to wear the same.

In general, the bumper comprises a pad made of a soft, resilient and flexible material and preferably of foam rubber or the like. The pad is cut so that its contour resembles the figure 8 and thereby more closely conforms to the contour of the body of the wearer. The pad is covered with a durable and attractive material. This material is preferably waterproof, and may be of plastic or the like. A rufile is added to the edges of the covered pad to further glorify the finished article.

As is quickly apparent, some means has to be provided to maintain the bumper on the wearer and toward this end a strap arrangement is provided which is attached to the covered pad, and. which comprises a belt for encircling the waist -of the wearer and a pair of straps for encircling the thighs. When desired, a harness bearing a rein may be attached to the belt of the bumper in order to provide means for the mother or guardian to restrain the movements of her active charge. To add to the allure of the bumper, a plurality of small bells are fastened to several points on the strap assembly.

It has been found from experience that a child who has recently learned to walk will get a measure of enjoyment from wearing this novel bumper. It seems that the infant finds it entertaining to listen to the tinkle of the bells. But, surprisingly enough, he seems to derive his greatest pleasure out of his ability to sit down hard without hurting himself.

Further objects and advantages will be apparent from the following description and the appended drawings, of which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a child showing how the bumper is worn;

Fig. 2 is a front view of the bumper showing the waist encircling band and leg straps;

Fig. 3 is a rear view thereof;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing the bumper being worn and with harness attached;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the device with harness attached; and

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary perspective view showing the details of the snap fastener arrangement for attaching the depending straps of the harness to the belt of the bumper.

Reference is now made to the drawings, and in particular to Figs. 1-4, in which like reference characters designate the same parts throughout, and in which It indicates the bumper proper of my invention, which consists fundamentally of a pad or cushion l I made of foam rubber or other suitable material. The pad may be covered by a waterproof or water-repellent fabric l2 which, as shown in Fig. 4, consists of two separate sheets, one on each side of the pad. An ornamental rufile I3 of the same or different material is attached by stitching around the periphery of the article. The exact manner in which it is assembled should be clear from Figs. 2 and 4. It should be obvious that the covering pieces I2 and rufiie 13 may be made of any material and may be fastened together in any other well-known manner.

Two leg-encircling straps 23 and 24 each have an end folded upon itself to form upwardly extending loops 2| and 22 through which a waistencircling band or belt 20 may be laced. The straps 23 and 24 are fastened to the bumper ID at points I5, l6, l1 and I8 by stitching or other suitable means. They may be attached to the bumper simultaneously with the rufiie by a single sewing operation. An auxiliary piece 25 is attached to the two leg bands, for added strength,

in the neighborhood of points I! and I8. The free end of strap 23 is provided with one element 30 of a snap fastener which may be selectively engaged with one of a plurality of mating elements 3| located near the other end of the same strap, as is clearly illustrated in Fig. 3. Strap 24 is provided with snap fastener elements in the same manner. By this arrangement, the leg bands when passed through the crotch of a wearer, can be adjusted so as to provide loops of varying dimension in order to adapt the bumper to children of different size. The straps may be constructed of leather, elastic fabric, or other suitable material. As shown, the belt is fitted with a conventional buckle, but as will be quite obvious, the buckle can be replaced by snap fasteners or other suitable fastening means. A plurality of small bells areshown attached to the strap assembly M at points 35, 36, 31, and 38, although obviously, they may be attached anywhere.

When desired, a conventional harness may be attached to the device in the manner shown in Fig. 6, wherein the depending straps 50 are each provided with snap fasteners or other attaching means 5!, to facilitate their individual attachment to the belt 20, as clearly shown in Fig. 7. With this arrangement, the bumper which is the subject of the present invention may be used with or without the harness, as desired.

Various changes and modifications can be made in the device'as will be apparent, from the above description and accompanying drawings.

Having now fully described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

A protective device for an infant comprising a waist-encircling band, a pair of thigh encircling straps, said straps having one end looped around said band and suspended therefrom, a strip member attached to each strap adjacent said loop ends for restraining said straps in spaced their ends.

JOHN R. AMOROSO.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,193,374: Gilliam Aug. 1, 1916 1,532,037 Cahill Mar. 31, 1925 1,930,378 Beagan Oct. 10, 1933 2,446,006 Hendricks July 27, 1948 2,502,393 Sladeket al. Mar. 28, 1950 

